Improved Precision of Sintered Steel Components Made from Partially Prealloyed Copper—Iron Powders

Abstract

An improvement in the dimensional tolerances of sintered components by at least one ISO grade was obtained in field tests comprising several thousand parts by using a partially pre-alloyed copper-iron powder instead of an elemental mix. This effect is explained by the fact that segregation of the constituents is minimized. Further tests have shown that sintered components made from partially prealloyed powders have a more even microstructure and better distribution of the alloying elements, resulting in components with fewer defects in the microstructure, than do components made from the corresponding elemental mixes.